Cheese

The integrity with which Marcia's cheeses are made is equaled only by the explosive flavors in her cheeses that result. Baserri and Txiki are two of America's best cheeses.

 Laura Werlin, Cheese Expert and author of The New American Cheese and Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials


The larger of our two cheeses is called Baserri, which means farmhouse in Basque. This cheese is a 4- to 5-pound tomme. The green Basque countryside in France and Spain is dotted with ancient tile-roofed baserris where Basque farmers still make their living in traditional ways, often milking their sheep by hand and making small batches of cheese that they sell locally. Our Baserri is made in that spirit, in small batches, by hand. It is a West Marin interpretation of the Basque cheeses you can buy from farmhouses in the Basque country.

Txiki, which means “little” in Basque, is a smaller version of Baserri, a 1.5-pound tommette-sized cheese made from the same recipe as Baserri. The shape produces a different relationship of paste to rind, and a more rapid aging.

Where to Buy Our Cheese

You can also buy Baserri and Txiki at Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station, at the Ferry Building in San Francisco and in Washington D.C., at Petaluma Market and Whole Foods in Petaluma, at Park 121 in Sonoma, Good Earth Natural Foods in Fairfax, the Pasta Shop in Berkeley and Oakland, at Cheese Plus, BiRite Market, Rainbow Grocery , Mission Cheese, Little Vine, and other cheese shops in San Francisco, at the Haight and Potrero Hill Whole Foods stores in San Francisco, the Cheese Shop and Big John's Market in Healdsburg, Oxbow Cheese Merchant in Napa, Harvest Market in Mendocino and Fort Bragg, and in the Los Angeles area at Farmshop in Santa Monica, the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, and the Artisan Cheese Gallery in Studio City.

Because our production is so small, our cheese is generally sold locally and doesn't very often make it out of California. But I want to note and acknowledge a few far flung cheese shops that regularly carry our cheese, including The Cheese Cellar in Seattle, Antonelli's Cheese Shop in Austin, Texas, Fromagio's Artisan Cheese in Anchorage, Alaska, Bern's Cave du Fromage in Tampa, Florida, and Zzest Culinary Market and Wine Cafe in Rochester, Minnesota!

If you can't find our cheese at a cheese shop near you, join our mailing list! We offer a limited number of whole wheels of Txiki by mail order, once a month or so, on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested, sign up now to get on the list, and we will notify you of our next offering. Go to the contact page to sign up.

 

Restaurants that Serve our Cheese

Close to our home, our cheese is on the menu at Osteria Stellina and the Station House Cafe in Point Reyes Station, Park 121 in Sonoma, and Bistro des Copains in Occidental.

Restaurants serving our cheese in San Francisco include Quince, Zuni Cafe, Greens Restaurant, Waterbar, Foreign Cinema, Boulevard, the St Regis Hotel, Piperade and Txoko (pronounced "choko," which is named for the tradational Basque eating and cooking clubs called txokos, and where, fittingly, you will find our Txiki on the menu!).

In the wine country you can find our cheese at Cyrus in Healdsburg, The French Laundry in Yountville, French Blue in St Helena, Auberge du Soleil in Napa, and Solage in Calistoga.

And in the Los Angeles area, our cheese is served at Gjelina in Venice, the Napa Valley Grille in Westwood, and the Beverly Hills Hotel.